Projectile.



A. P. SHORE.

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' I mv N R BY T - ATTORNEY ALBERT r. SHORE, or new roux, N. Y.

PROJECTILE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

' Application filed. December 10, 1913. Serial No, 305,690.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT F. SHORE, a

' citizen-of the United States, residing at New York, in the county ofNew York'and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Projectiles, of which the'following is a. full, clear,and

, exact specification.

This invention relates to improvements in projectiles of the type usedfor piercing armor plates, and the object of the. invention is toprovide aprojectile of improved which a Figure 1 isa view partly insection of a projectile embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a similarview, showing a modification, and Fig. 3 is a view illustratingtwophases or positions of the projectile in the act of penetrating andcrushing an armor plate.

The manufacture of large size modern projectiles for use against armorplate is accompanied by great difliculties because of the failure of thelarge mass of steel to harden properly. Another objection, is theenormous expense of making the/whole mass of the projectile of alloysteel, when only the point or impact port-ion needs to behardened. Asprojectiles are now made, the forward end is pointed to'facilitatepenetration and to out the air, but since this point is at once crushedagainst a hard plate,

final penetration and crushingof the plate is effected by the flattenedor blunt nose by the process of punching out a plug the full di-. ameterof the shell. The point is, therefore, not the product of the mostadvantageous design. A cylinde o-f l'c'ss hard material having a.relative blunt nose or impact portion of intensely hard steel willembody a mechanical. principle far more effective to crush the face ofthe armorplate, and since the body of the shell canbe of comparativelyinferior material, the same efiiciency can be obtained at considerableless cost than when the entire projectile ismade of high grade of alloysteel.

My invention is, therefore, embodied in a projectile comprising a bodyportion provided with a chilled fore end and further provided with animpact member of intensely hard steel and- 'lwhich preferably is in theform of a'ball. "The fore end of the projectile is thereafterfurnishedhvith the usual soft cap and a sheet metal point to facilitatecutting of the air;

The detailed construction and arrange ment is illustrated in Fig. 1, inwhich the reference niuneral 4 denotes the body of the projectile, whichis a relatively soft cast ing, in' the usual form. The fore end 5 ofvthis cylinder is chilled and hardened and provided with a socket 6'forthe reception of a ball 7 of intensely hard steel. A thin layer orlining 8 of soft steel is interposed between the ball and the cylinderto afford better and uniform contact and to eliminate uneven strains atthe moment of impact. 9 represents the usual softmetal cap and 10 is thesheet metal point which is shrunk on to the fore end 5.

The modification illustrated in Fig. 2 differsfrom Fig. 1, in thatthe'chilled fore end 11 is separate from the body 4 and is shrunk on,the body and fore end being provided with cooperating shoulders at 12.At the moment of impact, the metal cap is, of course, shattered and thesoft cap 9 is forced back exposing the ball 7 which crushes in the hardface of the armor plate 'at 13, Fig; 3, without itself being damaged bythose improper strains to which a sharp solid point would be exposed,as, for. instance, when the projectile-strikes the plate at an angle orobliquely.

At 14, Fig. 3, theplate 15 is shown weakened by the penetration of theball and the body of the projectile will punch through the usual plugand thus penetration is effected with ballistic mass of comparativelyinferior and cheaper metal.

It is obvious, that by using a ball, that is a small body with a largechilling surface, I not only obtain the maximum depth of hardness, butalso the maximum fineness of grain, intensity of hardness, :and very.greatstrength, because but little superheat is required in the hardeningprocess. The 'ball acts as" a blunt punch or impact body and penetratesthe plate gradually to-crush it without unduly shocking or upsetting thebody of the projectile.

The invention being susceptible of changes in the detailedconstruction", I do not wish to be limited beyond the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. An armor-piercing projectile comprising ii -combination a relativelysoft body having a hardened blunt fore end to the full diameter of saidbody, and provided with a. socket, a hardened, steel ball seated in saidsocket, said hardened fore end, and a sheet metal pointsecured tothelatter.

2. An armor-piercing projectile comprising in combination a relativelysoft body having a hardened blunt fore end provided with a socket, ahardened steel ball seated in said socket, a soft lining in said socketinterposed between said hardened fore end a soft cap forward of the andthe said steel ball, a soft cap over the latter and a metal pointsecured to the said hardened fore end.

8. An armor-piercing projectile comprising in combination a relativelysoft'body,

a hardened fore end portion shrunk'on to ALBERT F. SHORE. Witnesses:

HERMAN C. BELMAR, MARTHA W. SHAW.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing" the Commissioner 01' Patents, Washington, D. C.

